Hi Renee,

Welcome to the group. So many of us have been in your place- with confusing information as well as misinformation. The list philosophy is DDT/E.

Now get comfy........:-D

DIAGNOSIS by bloodwork. This includes non-fasting glucose/insulin and leptin blood draw at least 3-4 hrs after a morning meal of hay only. Was your girl diagnosed IR through bloodwork? If so, please post the tests, lab results/labs norms and units of measurement.

DIET: low sugar/starch/fat hay with minerals balanced to it
The Temporary Emergency Diet should be started now. The Temporary Emergency DIET is in the Start Here File.

First, if she is on pasture, take her off. NOW. Grass is high in sugar. Stressed grass is higher in sugar. You need to feed her 2% of her body weight a day in dry hay . You can feed this amount in 3-4 small meals a day. Put in small hole hay nets, soak in cold water for 1 hr and drain the water where the horses can not get to it. Soaking the hay can reduce the sugar up to 30% which could be critical for her. Feeding in hay nets will better satisfy the ravenous appetite of IR horses.

Next step will be to core the hay and send to Equi-Analytical and have it tested and major and trace minerals are balanced to the hays excesses and deficiencies. You will then have a custom made diet just for her. This plays a HUGE role in diet management for an IR horse. Let us know when you are ready to do this and we can help.

Stop feeding:

Any grains, bagged feed, commercial supplements and treats,apples carrots, salt/mineral blocks etc. The ER Diet is soaked hay with Vitamin E, loose iodized table salt, magnesium oxide and freshly ground flax seed. You can purchase all of those minerals at Walmart! You can also purchase a hanging fish scale to weigh the hay, if you need a scale.

You can use a pound or more of rinsed/soaked/rinsed beet pulp(R/S/R BP) as a carrier for the emergency minerals.

TRIM is a balanced foot with a trim that aligns to the coffin bone.
You can use boots/pads if she's foot sore.

Xrays: Please post the xrays in your history file....this is your file for lab results/hay analysis and xrays. Please go here and join:

http://pets/groups.yahoo.com/group/ECHistory6

EXERCISE only if she's able. Never force a laminitic horse to move.
Handwalking is great even for 5 minutes a day. Let her have room to move but you do not want her ripping around right now being foot sore.

Is she on pain meds? If yes, please tell us which one/dose and how long she has been on pain meds. Prolonged use of NSAID's can prevent healing and there is always the potential of ulcers.

Please take some time to inhale deeply and relax! Tell
us where you live as there may be a member close by that can help with sourcing supplies.

Start reading the Start Here File and ask questions as they come up. We will help you on this journey. It can be quite overwhelming in the beginning and as our members have been down this road, we can help ease the steep learning curve of proper IR management.

As far as L Carnitine, Biotin, etc- let's get the Emergency Diet in place, fill out a case history, post the xrays, breathe and we will tackle all of this with you and your girl.

Again welcome!

Susan
EC Primary Response
San Diego 1.07





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Hello,